The Latest: Man convicted in 1957 slaying declares innocence

SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) — The Latest in the legal battle of a 76-year-old man who says he’s been wrongfully imprisoned in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

A man who says he’s been wrongly imprisoned in the killing a 7-year-old Illinois girl in 1957 has pleaded with a judge to quickly consider his latest bid for freedom.

Seventy-six-year-old Jack McCullough asked the judge Tuesday how long his post-conviction petition process would take, emphasizing he’s been in prison for almost five years and declaring he can prove his innocence. McCullough added, “There has to be an end to this somewhere.”

DeKalb County Judge William Brady told McCullough all he could do at present is appoint him an attorney and outline the process that could result in a new trial.

McCullough was convicted in 2012 in the slaying of Maria Ridulph more than half a century earlier in the small community of Sycamore. Last week, a prosecutor released a lengthy review concluding McCullough could not have committed the crime.

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7:30 a.m.

The brother of a 7-year-old Illinois girl who was kidnapped and slain in 1957 has asked a judge to appoint a special prosecutor to ensure the man convicted of the crime stays behind bars.

The motion follows a six-month review by the county’s public prosecutor, who concluded, based on new evidence and a review of old documents barred from trial, that 76-year-old Jack McCullough could not have committed the crime.

McCullough was convicted in 2012 of abducting and killing Maria Ridulph more than half a century earlier in the small community of Sycamore.

The latest hearing in McCullough’s petition for post-conviction relief is set for Tuesday afternoon.

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6 a.m.

A 76-year-old former security guard serving a life sentence in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl could go free soon after a prosecutor found fault with the investigation and new evidence corroborated an alibi.

One of the oldest cases in the U.S. ever to go to trial will be back before a DeKalb County court Tuesday in the small community of Sycamore, where Maria Ridulph was abducted, stabbed and choked to death. Jack McCullough was convicted in 2012, some 55 years after the death.

DeKalb County State’s Attorney Richard Schmack said in a scathing filing last week that a review turned up serious missteps during the investigation and prosecution. He also said there was new evidence supporting a McCullough alibi.